158 GUIDE TO ICELAND. masses of the interior of the outer husks of gigantic coco-nuts. This substance is fast degrading into pumieeous sand. In crossing the crater four times no lava anywhere so new-looking that it could possibly have issued as recently as 1875 was seen by the author, but among the pumice were huge blocks of obsidian and pitchstone that had undoubtedly been ejected at the same time as that substance. The. apex of the slope formed by the pumice is a cone-shaped crater, whose summit lies about 250 feet above the superficial lava beneath the pumice. When seen in 1878, tremendous blasts of steam were belching forth almost continuously with perfectly deafening roars, but two years later, to the author’s great astonishment, all was perfectly still; and upon climbing to the summit he found that in the crater at a depth of 150 feet was a placid pool of apparently cold water. About 10 feet above the surface of the water were several inconsiderable stufa. The diameter of the mouth of the crater is between 450 and 500 feet, and the interior tapers down to a diameter of about 300 feet at the level of the water. Mr. E. Delmar Morgan, E.H.G.S., who visited Aslcja last summer (1881), says in a paper read before the Boyal Geographical Society on the 30th January, 1882 :—Hardly had we taken up a position on the edge of the crater, ‘ than with a loud roar a j et of mingled water and steam was thrown up to a great height, subsiding just as suddenly as it began. This proceeded apparently from a new outlet and not from a circular pool alongside, which was boiling and bubbling furiously.’ Thus, it appears, there is now a geysir of considerable size within this crater; which is named the Pumice Crater, as from it the greater part of the pumice erupted in 1875 was doubtless ejected. This crater on the south-west slopes abruptly down to the surface of the tepid lake lying some 600 feet below. The bed of the lake was formed by the disruption and subsidence bodily into an abyss beneath Aslcja of a huge mass of the lava deposits, oval in shape, of unknown thickness, and five miles in circumference. That this dis- ruption and subsidence took place during the 1875 eruptions is proved by the fresh appearance of the face of the cliffs encircling the lake on the north, which show the strata underlying the present surface of Askja en profile. South-east of the lake, stretching into Askja's encircling moun- tain wall for nearly 1,000 yards, is a deep gorge bordered on either hand with sheer precipices 600 feet In height at the very least. Herein are innumerable vents, from which immense volumes of

(1) Front Board
(2) Front Board
(3) Front Flyleaf
(4) Front Flyleaf
(5) Page [1]
(6) Page [2]
(7) Page [3]
(8) Page [4]
(9) Page [5]
(10) Page [6]
(11) Page [7]
(12) Page [8]
(13) Illustration
(14) Illustration
(15) Page [9]
(16) Page [10]
(17) Page [11]
(18) Page [12]
(19) Page [13]
(20) Page [14]
(21) Page 1
(22) Page 2
(23) Page 3
(24) Page 4
(25) Page 5
(26) Page 6
(27) Page 7
(28) Page 8
(29) Page 9
(30) Page 10
(31) Page 11
(32) Page 12
(33) Page 13
(34) Page 14
(35) Page 15
(36) Page 16
(37) Page 17
(38) Page 18
(39) Page 19
(40) Page 20
(41) Page 21
(42) Page 22
(43) Page 23
(44) Page 24
(45) Page 25
(46) Page 26
(47) Page 27
(48) Page 28
(49) Page 29
(50) Page 30
(51) Page 31
(52) Page 32
(53) Page 33
(54) Page 34
(55) Page 35
(56) Page 36
(57) Page 37
(58) Page 38
(59) Page 39
(60) Page 40
(61) Page 41
(62) Page 42
(63) Page 43
(64) Page 44
(65) Page 45
(66) Page 46
(67) Page 47
(68) Page 48
(69) Page 49
(70) Page 50
(71) Page 51
(72) Page 52
(73) Page 53
(74) Page 54
(75) Page 55
(76) Page 56
(77) Page 57
(78) Page 58
(79) Page 59
(80) Page 60
(81) Page 61
(82) Page 62
(83) Page 63
(84) Page 64
(85) Page 65
(86) Page 66
(87) Page 67
(88) Page 68
(89) Page 69
(90) Page 70
(91) Page 71
(92) Page 72
(93) Page 73
(94) Page 74
(95) Page 75
(96) Page 76
(97) Page 77
(98) Page 78
(99) Page 79
(100) Page 80
(101) Page 81
(102) Page 82
(103) Page 83
(104) Page 84
(105) Page 85
(106) Page 86
(107) Page 87
(108) Page 88
(109) Page 89
(110) Page 90
(111) Page 91
(112) Page 92
(113) Page 93
(114) Page 94
(115) Page 95
(116) Page 96
(117) Page 97
(118) Page 98
(119) Page 99
(120) Page 100
(121) Page 101
(122) Page 102
(123) Page 103
(124) Page 104
(125) Page 105
(126) Page 106
(127) Page 107
(128) Page 108
(129) Page 109
(130) Page 110
(131) Page 111
(132) Page 112
(133) Page 113
(134) Page 114
(135) Page 115
(136) Page 116
(137) Page 117
(138) Page 118
(139) Page 119
(140) Page 120
(141) Page 121
(142) Page 122
(143) Page 123
(144) Page 124
(145) Page 125
(146) Page 126
(147) Page 127
(148) Page 128
(149) Page 129
(150) Page 130
(151) Page 131
(152) Page 132
(153) Page 133
(154) Page 134
(155) Page 135
(156) Page 136
(157) Page 137
(158) Page 138
(159) Page 139
(160) Page 140
(161) Page 141
(162) Page 142
(163) Page 143
(164) Page 144
(165) Page 145
(166) Page 146
(167) Page 147
(168) Page 148
(169) Page 149
(170) Page 150
(171) Page 151
(172) Page 152
(173) Page 153
(174) Page 154
(175) Page 155
(176) Page 156
(177) Page 157
(178) Page 158
(179) Page 159
(180) Page 160
(181) Page 161
(182) Page 162
(183) Page 163
(184) Page 164
(185) Page 165
(186) Page 166
(187) Page 167
(188) Page 168
(189) Page 169
(190) Page 170
(191) Page 171
(192) Page 172
(193) Page 173
(194) Page 174
(195) Page 175
(196) Page 176
(197) Page 177
(198) Page 178
(199) Page 179
(200) Page 180
(201) Page 181
(202) Page 182
(203) Page 183
(204) Page 184
(205) Page [1]
(206) Page [2]
(207) Page [3]
(208) Page [4]
(209) Page [5]
(210) Page [6]
(211) Page [7]
(212) Page [8]
(213) Rear Flyleaf
(214) Rear Flyleaf
(215) Rear Board
(216) Rear Board
(217) Spine
(218) Fore Edge
(219) Scale
(220) Color Palette